


The ugly duck

by k1wii



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Family Angst, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Other, Parent-Child Relationship, Pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:53:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29323509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/k1wii/pseuds/k1wii
Summary: After her son, Dream, gets executed for his crimes, Puffy, captain of a pirate ship, talks to a friend about everything, and ends up bringing up memories from since she found her duckling, and it becomes a bit overwhelming
Relationships: Cara | CaptainPuffy & Clay | Dream, Cara | CaptainPuffy & Phil Watson
Kudos: 2





	The ugly duck

**Author's Note:**

> HI!!! um this is my first fanfic (I do intend on posting more), I hope u enjoy it, I liked writing it so :)
> 
> some warnings: very explicit death scene and major character death 
> 
> anyway yep, enjoy reading <3

“I wonder how this came to be Phil, how did he lose himself so much? How did I lose him so fast?” Puffy wonders as tears pour down her face, she didn’t care about her ship, her money, her crewmates, if she didn't have her duckling, her son, Dream.

“I don't know my friend, I watched him grow up and he never seemed to be the one to go off the rails, wilbur in another hand…” They let out a laugh that sounded more like a sigh.

“And it was completely the other way around, I don’t know what I did wrong” Her mind flashed back to when she first found Dream, it was a cheerful night for her crew, the sky was as dark as the depths of the ocean, he was a dirty baby, abandoned in an alley screaming bloody murder, she took him in her arms and never let him go.

21 years in the past: 

“C’mon everyone! Let’s get what we came for and get out, I want no blood shed tonight!” She trotted off laughing, with a big sack in hand, Puffy walked into the darkness looking for the most valuable items in that damned town. 

It wasn’t long before she heard the cry of a certainly desperate baby, it felt like it was coming from everywhere as it echoed through the walls of the houses. The captain followed the cry, missing a couple of times before actually finding the screaming child, a baby boy in a basket, dirty, smelly and scared, he kept crying as she approached, crouching to take him in her arms. The baby calmed down a bit once it was comfortable, although it was still crying. Puffy smiled like she never had before, she had always wanted kids but her partner, Niki, refused to; but that boy was so small and defenceless, and he was staring right into her eyes, she felt a connection to him like she’s never felt in her life. Regardless of what she knew Niki was gonna say, she took the boy and the empty sack of treasures back to the ship.

As the captain approached her ship, the crew that had stayed to watch out for attackers gave the woman a confused look, she didn't care. She walked up the stairs to the deck and her lover was with her sword in hand acting like the protector she was. Puffy touched her shoulder lightly and Niki turned smiling as she stared at the other woman’s eyes, but her smile did not last long when she saw what the captain was holding.

“No way in hell we are taking it with us” She exclaimed, her tone angry and demanding.

“I am not asking for your permission, I’m simply warning you that we now have a child on board so be careful” She held a calm tone, that did not match her partner's expression.

“Have you gone insane, Puffy? It is going to slow us down and it is probably going to die”

“Don't say that!” That came out louder than she wanted it to. As the conversation happened the rest of the crew was coming back with all of the valuables, and the baby shifted and wiggled around the woman’s arms.

“I am being truthful! I am not staying if you keep it” she declared angrily.

“What? No, please don’t go, we can raise him together, he will be the reason we will still fight for our lives, and take everything that is good so he can have the best life we can imagine. Isn’t that a dream come true? We can do it can’t we?” Her voice was low and soft, it could be interpreted as a plea, she didn't want to lose Niki, but that baby was the first thing in a long time that gave her reason, long ago it had been Niki, but now Puffy knew she could take care of herself, so she didn’t need to protect her anymore.

“I’m sorry my love but I cannot do it, I’ve said this since the beginning of our relationship, I will not raise a child, and if you want it so badly than maybe I should go” And she started walking off to the their bedroom to pack her things, Puffy could’ve stopped her, but she didn’t.

Later that night, they were already back at sea, her, her boy and her crew, no Niki. The men and the women of the ship were dumbfounded at the sight of the baby, who was now clean and fed in his mother’s arms.

“What will his name be, Captain?” One of the women asked looking over at Puffy.

“Dream”

“Dream? Why?”

“He’s my dream come true”

Present:

“God, he was such a perfect little boy I don't know where I went wrong” She sighs

“You didn’t go wrong Puffy, he was the one who lost his sanity” Phil said, taking a sip of the water that had arrived at his hand.

“I still can’t believe that he killed that poor kid. He ruined so many lives, and yet he took such great care of mine”

“What do you mean?”

“He cared for me dearly, of course I was his mother but he didn’t see taking care of me as a chore. He learned how to take care of wounds, how to guide a ship, how to read maps, how to tick the enemy, he learned how to perfect, just to make me proud and to keep me safe. And I was more than proud, he was my duckling, I’d always be proud of his accomplishments” She looked down trying to forget the face of her son while he smiled at her so caringly, and his face as he hung from a tree.

“He really was a great kid, despite y’know, everything else he did” Phil let out a quiet laugh.

They stayed quiet for a long while, his mind was thinking about anything else but Dream and her mind was only Dream, his green eyes from when he was a kid, his teenage years when he was struggling with teenage years, and the look he had in his eyes right before he went off to assassinate Tubbo.

The silence was broken by Phil asking Puffy: “Do you think he deserved it?”

“What?”

“Do you think he deserved to die?”

“I- I don’t know, maybe, he did terrible things and no child deserves to have their life ripped apart, he should’ve known this from his own personal experiences”

Six months in the past:

“HOW COULD YOU? HE WAS JUST A KID DREAM” She yelled at her son, who was pacing around the room with a calm expression lying on his face.

“He was the only thing in the way of us getting total control over Tommy’s ship mom”

“NO YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT WE COULD HAVE DONE IT ANY OTHER WAY IF I EVER WANTED HIS SHIP , KILLING A CHILD IS JUST UTTER STUPIDITY”

“Think about how much power we have now” His eyes almost sparkled.

“POWER IS BULLSHIT WHEN YOU ARE IMMORAL” 

None of them said anything for a while, only the captain’s heavy breathing and the boy’s steps were audible. The silence was brutally broken by Puffy.

“Get out of my ship”

“What?” He sounded distressed

“Get out, you are a COLD BLOODED MURDERER and I won’t accept that on my ship and that is final” She was serious, meaning every word that came out of her mouth.

“But… I’m your son” His expression changed drastically, it showcased fear and pain.

“And you will always be, but that does not change the fact that you will also always be a killer duckling. You’ve seen so many people get thrown out because of murder, did you really think it would be different with you? I keep my word and I promised I’d keep my tripulation safe and having a killer on board is not safe for them. I’m so sorry my love” Her eyes filled with tears. She had watched her lover go all those years ago and now she would have to watch her son, her duckling, the boy she decided to take care of not caring what anybody had to say, leave too.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry mom, please don’t let go of me, I love you please, I’ll take care of everything I swear I’m not a threat to anyone” His eyes were pouring waterfalls, and the salty tears hit the floor as he kneeled down by his mother’s feet.

She looked down at Dream, he looked as small as he did when he was six and he’d come crying to her whenever he had a nightmare. Her tears fell on his back. She bent down, mumbling meaningless words while she tried to lift him to his feet.

“Honey please” Puffy’s voice came out soft, almost like a whimper. She didn’t know why she wanted him to stand up, knowing full well that she could barely look him in the eyes. “Please, stand up” She pleaded anyway. 

Dream looked up, with puffy eyes and a red nose, he took his mom’s hands that were being held out, and he stood up slowly.

“I’m sorry but I have to do this, I have to… I-” Captain was cut off by a series of painful sobs coming from the both of them.

And everything else she remembers from that day is just Dream leaving her ship just like Niki did 21 years ago; and him getting dragged to the town’s prison.

Present:

“I don’t know Phil, I taught him well didn’t I, or was it my fault?” Her voice wavered through the air.

“It is NOT your fault, friend” He reassured. “He lost himself at his own expense, at his own desire for power”

Captain Puffy let out a loud laugh. “Fucking power, god, the thing that corrupts everyone on this damned Earth. I mean a kid who never cared about anything really, became king somehow, and gave up on everything he loved just to be powerful”

“Are you talking about George?”

“Yes, I remember him running around the ship and all that he cared about was what he was gonna eat and where he was gonna sleep” Both laughed at the memory of the young boy.

7 years in the past:

“George, get down from the flagpole!” Puffy demanded, walking to the deck with food in hand for the kids. She saw the boy come down and run towards her with hungry eyes. “Alright, alright, I know you’re hungry” She said while laughing. “Dream, Sapnap come eat!!”

Both boys walked up from behind a large pole with swords that didn’t belong to them.

“Hand me the swords you maniacs, c’mon” She held out her hand and they gave her the weapons.

“Mom, can Sapnap and Geroge sleep on the ship with us today?”

“Sure duckling”

“Yeah!!!” all of them cheered in unison.

The three boys were talking amongst them and Puffy just watched with a caring facial expression, they seemed so happy, she was really glad Dream had such great friends. She heard them scream.

“Oh George!” A wheeze. “Come on, you know you want to” He kept on laughing

“Shut up Dream” The smaller boy looked flustered.

“Georgie c’mon, just give him a kiss” Sapnap barged in, Puffy shook her head while still watching from afar.

“What the hell Sapnap, NO! That’s not even what we were talking about” The other two where laughing their asses off.

“God, you are so stupid” She heard her son say among laughter. Shaking her head again, she walked away from the kids' conversation.

Present:

“They were so close, Dream, Sapnap and George, but slowly Dream lost everything he ever cared about” Phil declared.

“Yes, the only thing he never lost was my love and that’s what lead him to his death”

Before they could start up a new conversation about her dead son, her mind wandered to when he was executed.

Earlier that day:

“Towns people! A few months ago we caught a killer, the murderer of an innocent child in our land” The mayor spoke up. “I will now let the victim’s close friend speak”

A skinny blond boy walked up on the stage. She thought it was fucking stupid that they had a *stage* to show off her son’s killing.

“Hello, um… this man killed my best friend, Tubbo, just so he could have control over my family’s ship, but he didn’t know that the power he wanted so much would be his doom.”

Her eyes filled up with tears as Dream was walked up on stage, blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back.

Tommy kept talking. “So now he will pay for everything he did”

The crowd cheered as a rope was put around Dream’s neck, Puffy fiched at the sight. They took his blindfold off and his eyes immediately scoured the people looking for someone, probably his mom, who he found easily, they stared at each other for a while, he then smiled at her, a bittersweet taste filled her mouth as tears began pouring down her face making her vision blurry so she could barely see the smile that were directly at her.

When they decided to pull the rope she couldn’t bring herself to watch them kill her duckling. After that it was just his body hanging from a tree above that stupid fucking stage.

Present:

She didn’t remember anything else from that day until she was at the tavern with Phil, she wanted to scream and cry, it just hurt so fucking much, she couldn’t stay there anymore, that conversation was driving her mad, she appreciated Phil’s intention, but it was all too much. Puffy stood up abruptly, leaving her friend talking to himself. She walked out of the tavern, walking fast, her mind ran at 1000 miles per second, all she wanted to do was to stop thinking.

Her walk led her back to her ship that had been sitting at the porch for far too long now, the Captain walked into it, looking lost, the memories of her dead son’s body flashing her mind. She kneeled and cried.

“WHY WERE YOU SO STUPID DUCKLING? WHY? NOW I HAVE TO LIVE LIFE WITHOUT YOU AND I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT!” Her screams came out with sobs. She looked around, and everywhere she would see an image of Dream, or Niki, and it pained her so much just to see their figures even if they were purely figures of her imagination. That ship brought her too much pain, too many memories of people she would never get back, and it meant she held power and she HATED power now, so why not just burn the thing to the fucking ground? 

Captain Puffy trailed off to the porch, grabbed a torch that was illuminating the entrance, pressed it against the side of the ship until the wood caught on fire, and she couldn’t care less, she had lost everything, a bunch of wooden planks glued together wouldn’t bring her the happiness she longed for and that she would never get back. She walked away leaving the ship to burn alongside the memories she never wanted to remember.


End file.
